***<>/• 




kc 



inns 



Author 



Title 



Imprint. 



1©— 47372-2 «*»0 



A 

DISCOURSE 

ON THE 

ADVANTAGES OF CLASSICAL LEARNING, 

WITH A SKETCH 

OF 

THE CHARACTER OF THE LATE 
WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON, 

DELIVERED 

BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION OP THE ALUMNI OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, 
AT THEIR ANNIVERSARY, 5th MAY, 1830. 



BY 

JOHN T/lRVIXG. 



PUBLISHED AT THE KEQ.UEST OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



:* 



w w 




NEW-YORK 
G. & C. & H. CAR V ILL. 

1830. 



LUDWIG & TOLEFREE, PRINTERS, 
Corner of Greenwich and Vesey-streets, New-York. 



LC/ooS 

- -*- f 



New- York, May 6th, 1830. 



Judge Irving, 

Sir — We have been appointed a committee, on the 
part of the Alumni, to express to you their thanks for the clas- 
sical, feeling, and judicious address delivered before them, and 
to acknowledge the high degree of gratification experienced by 
them from the sentiments contained in it in favour of general 
education, and in defence of the advantages of classical learn- 
ing. The Alumni are desirous of obtaining the address for 
publication, and you will much oblige us by furnishing a copy 
for that purpose. 

We are, Sir, with great respect, and friendly consideration, 

Your obedient servants, 

Samuel G. Raymond, 
Thomas L. Wells, 

James RenwicKc 



New-York, May 10th, 1830. 
Gentlemen, 

I return you my thanks for the sentiments ex- 
pressed in your note to me of the 6th instant, and which, I 
ascribe to the kind feelings entertained towards me by your- 
selves, and my brother Alumni, more than to any merit in the 
production of which you have spoken so favourably. 

As it contains a brief sketch of the life of a most distin- 
guished and estimable man, with whose early public services 
the Alumni may not be so well acquainted, and may therefore 
be thought worthy of preservation, I have sent you a copy of 
it, agreeably to your request. 

Accept, Gentlemen, my acknowledgments for the manner in 
which you have communicated to me the wishes of the Alumni, 
and believe me to be, with sentiments of respect and esteem, 

Your obedient servant, 

John T. Irving. 

Messrs. Samuel G. Raymond, 
Thomas L. Wells, 
James Renwick. 



DISCOURSE 



Fellow Alumni, 

On this anniversary of our collegiate association, at 
which I have had the honour of being appointed to address 
you, I have thought that some reflections upon the patron- 
age given to education by our State, and on the sentiments 
at present entertained by many relative to this deeply inter- 
esting subject, might be acceptable to you, especially as it 
has lately occupied so much of the public attention. 

In no country, perhaps, can education be a matter of 
more vital importance than in ours. Where power is de- 
posited with the people, and every intellect may be consid- 
ered as the throne of government, how essential is it that 
such intellect should be thoroughly enlightened ! Possessed 
of a heritage embracing within itself the blessings of every 
clime, self-poised and independent, it behoves us to instil 
into our extensive population those principles of virtue, and 
that sound information, which alone can preserve and per- 
petuate our privileges. 



8 

The mind should be habituated to dwell upon our in- 
stitutions, and to know that they are not the work of a 
day, but the result of the collected wisdom of ages. That 
the civil advantages they are intended to secure have 
been the subject of much calculation, and have the sanc- 
tion of great experience. While these are justly com- 
prehended, and their value duly appreciated, we have 
every reason to believe that they will be guarded with 
the most watchful solicitude. Whatever symptoms have 
been shown among us towards laxity of principle will be 
found to have arisen from a want of correct information. 
A mere government of laws, which has no other con- 
trolling power than the collected mind of its people, 
and which at stated periods returns entirely into their 
hands, requires the care, the vigilance, and thought which 
belong to strong and highly improved intellect. Correct 
principles and sound knowledge should be carefully in- 
fused into the minds of the young. These plants from 
which so much promise is expected, and on whose strength 
and vigour so much will hereafter depend, should receive 
the hand of early, attentive, and thorough culture. 

It is but of recent years that the government of our 
state has been fully awakened to the great importance of 
educating its youth. There has, however, been an ample 
apology for this remissness, if remissness it should be term- 
ed, in the former state of our country, and in the trials of 
its inhabitants. Before our separation from the British 
Empire we had many difficulties to encounter from the 



9 

newness of our country, its scanty resources, and the spa- 
ring patronage bestowed upon it by the royal government. 
The little progress which, under such discouraging circum- 
stances, we had made in learning, prior to the war of the 
revolution, was completely checked by that event, and its 
effect was to retard with us, for a considerable time, the 
advancement of literature. This college, then the only 
institution of that nature in our state, was closed during the 
whole of that period ; and after the struggle had termina- 
ted, the inhabitants of our state felt for a series of years 
the influence of the harassing events they had experienced. 
Their calm was like that which succeeds a tempest ; the 
billows continued to roll, though the violence of the storm 
was over. 

It required time to allay the ferment of those occurren- 
ces, and to prepare the minds of men for those quiet pur- 
suits which are favourable to literature ; and before that had 
been accomplished, our revolution gave birth to a contest 
which convulsed the old world, and tore up the very foun- 
dations of its governments. Connected as this event was 
with the struggle which had just successfully terminated 
here, and originating with a people to whom we were 
bound by the ties of affection and gratitude, it was natural 
that we should feel, as we powerfully did, the influence of 
that great excitement. With every inclination to make 
common cause in a conflict, which to us would have been 
productive of nothing but disaster, it was by the effort of 
strong and energetic minds alone, who breasted the popu- 



10 

lar delusion, that we were prevented from being engulphed 
in a vortex which drew to it and swallowed up the prospe- 
rity of almost every nation on the globe. It was indeed to 
us a season of most fearful peril ; and though providen- 
tially preserved from being more than spectators of that 
desolating conflict, yet, like excited spectators, we took 
part, in mind, if not in action, with the contending parties, 
and our passions became deeply enlisted. 

The public mind was thus for many years agitated by 
extraordinary events. Such excitements have ever impe- 
ded the advancement of knowledge. The arts are not 
nursed by the storm of revolution, nor can they withstand 
its violence. They require for their culture seasons of 
quiet, and the fostering care of a peaceful government. 
This period, so at war with the best feelings and interests 
of man, has been succeeded by times of a decidedly oppo- 
site temper and character. We have felt the influence of 
this happy change ; and on this side of the Atlantic, are 
co-operating with the great and good of Europe, in those 
liberal plans which have for their object the improvement 
of the minds and the melioration of the conditions of men. 
Independent of the many associations which have been 
formed for the relief of the necessities and afflictions of 
our species, our country appears to be deeply impressed 
with the conviction, that our civil institutions are the best 
calculated to produce human happiness, and that their 
preservation must depend upon the intelligence of its in- 
habitants. Every effort is therefore making to shed the 



11 

light of learning where that light is wanting. While some 
of our sister states have been for years alive to this mo- 
mentous concern, we have reason to be proud of the no- 
ble effort which has been made in our own. With us a 
fund, ample and increasing, has been established, which is 
affording to the young the benefit of a thorough elementary 
education. The productive part of this fund already 
amounts to nearly two millions of dollars, and a provision 
in our present constitution secures to it the proceeds of the 
sale of all public lands not otherwise appropriated. The 
value of those lands must increase with our population, 
and a permanent source is therefore provided, which is 
growing with the state, and which in a measure will keep 
pace with the wants and increase of its inhabitants. 

We are already experiencing the blessing of this great 
work of public beneficence ; but there is in after years a 
harvest to be reaped from it, the riches and abundance of 
which it is almost impossible to calculate. The very pa- 
tronage thus given to education has already, as it ever will, 
acted as a stimulus to private exertion ; and, in every part 
of the state, individuals are appropriating their means, and 
co-operating with the public authority, in giving extensive 
effect to elementary instruction. In the year 1825, the 
Superintendent of Common Schools reported to our Legis- 
lature, that for the fifteen years previous, one million one 
hundred and ten thousand dollars had been expended in 
the support of common schools : that, in the same period, 
three million one hundred and thirteen thousand five hun- 



12 

dred dollars had been raised by tax for the same purpose ; 
and that from the lowest estimate, according to the returns 
made to him, nine million two hundred and twenty-seven 
thousand five hundred dollars had been paid by individuals, 
on their voluntary engagements, for the education of chil- 
dren in those schools ; making a total of thirteen million 
three hundred and one thousand dollars. That in the year 
1816, one hundred and forty thousand one hundred and 
six children were educated in these schools ; and, in 1824, 
the number instructed during that year had increased to 
four hundred and two thousand nine hundred and forty. 
Since that period, the average increase has been from fif- 
teen to twenty thousand annually; so that in fact, a fourth 
part of our entire population is in a continual course of 
instruction.* 

How does the heart kindle at a review like this, what 
prospects of human happiness and national glory does it not 
open to our view ! We may admire all that is beautiful in 
the works of art, and bless the inventions of those who 
have added to the elegances, the comforts, and the conve- 
niences of life ; but it is on a scene of moral sublimity like 
this that the heart loves to linger — where the young and 
helpless are taken by the hand and led into the paths of 
knowledge, where thousands of souls are preserved from 
the degradation and vice of ignorance, — made blessings in 



* In 1816, the number of schools was 2631. In 1829, the number had 
increased to 8292, and the scholars instructed were 480,041. 



13 

their day and generation, and matured for lives of honour to 
themselves, and of active usefulness to their country. 

There is but one cloud which overshadows this glowing 
picture. While every effort is thus making for the dissemi- 
nation of elementary instruction, and its great moral 
effects are already powerfully felt, our colleges and princi- 
pal seminaries, have been but sparingly favoured with public 
patronage. The mind of the general mass of our popula- 
tion, though alive to the importance of education, does not 
appear to be convinced of the utility of imparting that re- 
fined and sound information which is to be acquired by a 
course of classic instruction. It is believed by many, that 
the studies embraced in our common schools are sufficient 
for all active purposes, and that a more enlarged education 
will unfit its recipient for the practical pursuits to which 
human life is principally to be devoted. That, although 
intellect enriched by varied knowledge, and stored with the 
learning of antiquity, may be useful to him who is enabled 
by his opulence to lead a life of leisure, and devote him- 
self exclusively to thejDursuits of literature ; yet, that it will 
only impede the advancement of those whose necessities 
compel them to a life of active duty, and who are obliged 
by straitened circumstances to encounter the jostlings and 
collisions of the world. The opinion is fallacious. It is 
the strong, the vigorous, and the well instructed intellect, 
that is best able to meet and sustain such trials. The 
mind thus fortified comes into action not only with its own 
resources, but with a store of intelligence derived from the 



14 

wisdom and intelligence of others. The experience of 
ages is added to its native stock. The errors and prejudi- 
ces which cling to a narrow intellect have been removed. 
It has expanded with the intellectual atmosphere it has 
been accustomed to breathe. Into a world such as it is, it 
brings the knowledge of a world such as it has been, and 
appreciates present men and their acts by a just comparison 
with those, and the acts of those, who have preceded them. 
History teaches by example ; and the lives of the good and 
virtuous of former days, are continual comments upon the 
conduct of those who have succeeded them. Man, espe- 
cially in his youth, is imitative ; he can be moulded to vir- 
tue or vice by the influence of a good or of a bad example. 
This is apparent in the conduct of those who have been 
brought up in a depraved or virtuous community. 

" They catch the manners living as they rise." 

It is therefore important that they should be made ac- 
quainted early with the character and conduct of those 
great names who have cast a lustre upon antiquity. By 
contemplating what has been useful and illustrious, they 
are induced to emulate such patterns of excellence. 
There is in the young an innate love of virtue. The heart 
is unwittingly drawn forth and engrossed by the contem- 
plation of disinterested worth. Theirs is the day of gene- 
rous sentiment and enthusiastic feeling. The soil is rich 
and tender, and should receive the choicest seed before 



15 

weeds have grown up and wasted its strength. Let this 
love of virtue, which then so predominates, be powerfully 
addressed. Familiarize their minds with the acts and en- 
dowments of those who once controlled the world by the 
energy of their character, and swayed the hearts of men by 
their goodness. We may indeed be convinced and influ- 
enced by sound lessons of instruction alone, but there is 
in those living histories of the talent and worth of ancient 
days a moving eloquence which appears irresistibly to sway 
the affections. We have example and precept acting to- 
gether. Principles are made enduring by a record of the 
acts of those who have gloriously triumphed or suffered 
in their defence. The young heart will warm with the 
recital of this devotedness of virtue. It will carry into 
active life those correct and manly principles, and their 
controlling power will be shown in fairness of dealing, cor- 
rect determination of purpose, and fixed integrity of cha- 
racter. In its intercourse with the world, there will be no 
laxity of principle, no sacrifice of self-respect, but the in- 
fluence of a sound and an enlarged education will be felt 
and shown in all the relations of life. The cunning and 
deceit which so often discredit the worldly intercourse of 
men, though generally ascribed to acute intellect, will 
usually be found to be inmates of a mind which, unfortu- 
nately for itself and for others, has not had the benefit of a 
good education. Conscious of its defects, and distrustful 
of itself, it becomes distrustful of others. Fearful of being 
overreached, it overreaches its neighbour, and not in- 



16 

structed that there is a higher principle to live for than its 
own gratification, the principle of self absorbs, controls, and 
at last degrades it. What a void must there be in that heart 
which has lived for no generous purpose or for no common 
good! To which no eye turns with affection, and no voice 
in the accents of approbation ! There is a want which 
wealth cannot procure, the cravings of which luxury can- 
not appease. It is the esteem and confidence of our spe- 
cies. He who has not these, however ample his posses- 
sions, yet inhabits a solitude. These great earthly blessings, 
are to be secured not only by a well regulated life, but by 
a well regulated mind, and whatever therefore will tend to 
strengthen and discipline the latter, should form a part of 
its early education. 

But besides the excellence in themselves of those exam- 
ples of patriotism and virtue, which have thus been pre- 
served for our imitation ; it is a peculiar advantage of 
ancient literature, that those examples have been placed on 
record by minds able to appreciate, and display their worth. 
We know scarcely which most to admire, the great names 
who did honour to their day, or the historians, the poets, 
and the orators, who have done justice to their fame. The 
works of those historians, poets, and orators, undying 
amid the lapse of ages, have cast a halo round antiquity. 
Antiquity in letters may be termed the east from which 
light has been shed upon the world. It is there we are to 
look for the source of all that is rich, tender, or sublime in 
poetry, or all that can awaken and stir up the heart in elo- 



17 

quence. There is a simplicity as well as a majesty in this 
love of ancient days, which we in vain look for in the pro- 
ductions of more modern times. As the world has grown 
old, and knowledge has been added to knowledge, we have 
undoubtedly improved in the exact sciences, and in what- 
ever must naturally be increased by experience ; but in 
works of the imagination, — in mental philosophy, — in true 
eloquence, the ancients stand unrivalled. The human 
mind in their day, appeared to have received its highest 
polish, and some of the elegant arts, especially architecture 
and sculpture, which naturally belonged to such a period, 
remain equally unrivalled. The models of taste are there. 
This is the source of what is refined as well as of what is use- 
ful. And shall the young mind be debarred from drink- 
ing at this fountain, its waters have fertilized wherever they 
have reached. 

The wisdom of our day has its foundation deeply laid in 
the wisdom of antiquity. For what is sound in politics 
and pure in morals, we are indebted to the ancient schools. 
We may have improved upon their systems, but the origin 
of this improvement is there. We are taught by their expe- 
rience, that refinement, is not unfavourable to civil liberty. 
That the arts have ever flourished most where the minds of 
men were unshackled, and that literature, while it thrives 
best in a land of freedom, casts an eternal radiance over the 
place where it is cherished. We are especially to look to 
those seats of learning for those civil institutions, which 
have been a pattern, both in form and substance, for delibe- 



18 

rative assemblies in all succeeding ages. The principles of 
government, which have bound men together, and promo- 
ted their individual and general welfare, were inculcated 
early. They are the text from which so many lessons of 
political instruction have been given, and so much practi- 
cal benefit has been derived. If to understand any branch 
of knowledge, it is deemed important to seek its source, 
and thence to trace its effects ; the science of government 
is surely worthy of such labour, and will amply repay the 
research. 

In a land like this, where the people constitute the ruling 
power, and whose legislators are taken from the general 
mass of its population, according as they are recommended 
by integrity and talent, surely it is important, that classic 
literature, from which so much of what is useful has been 
drawn, should form a part of public education, and there 
cannot be a greater mistake than to conclude, as has been 
done by those in high authority in this state, that its 
encouragement is not particularly called for, or required by 
the present state and wants of our country.* Those who 
are to apply the principles of government to the wants and 
necessities of men, should know whence those principles 
have been derived, and what has been their practical 
effects. How they have been applied to the exigencies of 
other countries, and whether such application has proved 

* Report of the Regents of the University made to the Legislature, Feb. 
29, 1828. 



19 

beneficial or otherwise. It certainly cannot render the 
representatives of a free people less fit for the great work 
of legislation, if they should be imbued with those principles 
of civil liberty which belonged to, and were considered 
treasures of the mind in the days of early literature. 

A disposition has been manifested of late years to inno- 
vate upon those long established systems of education which 
require and promote the study of classic learning, and to 
substitute instrucution in the modern, in the place of 
instruction in the ancient languages. I am not bigoted to 
any established system of education, merely because it is 
established, and I am well aware that we are continually 
learning and continually repudiating error ; but it certainly 
cannot be wise to abandon that which has been long tried 
and proved to be beneficial. The very fact that it has stood 
the test of time, and has received the sanction of experi- 
ence, is a powerful argument in its favour. While a knowl- 
edge of modern languages should form with us an essential 
part of present education, and will be found to be particular- 
ly useful, considering the intimate commercial relations which 
exist between us and the respective nations, by whom 
those languages are used ; yet it by no means follows that 
ancient literature may therefore be dispensed with. It is 
the very key to the genuine literature, and in the civilized 
world, to the languages of the present day. 

In literature, as well as in the arts, we are but improving 
on the works of antiquity. The choicest productions of 
present art are hut imitations of the ancient models. In 



20 

architecture and sculpture we are altogether indebted to 
them ; and our purest specimens of taste are but the com- 
binations of those rules and orders that distinguished a state 
of refinement which has since been hardly reached, and 
certainly never surpassed. Let those patterns of a refined 
age be entirely withdrawn, and the knowledge derived from 
their study be withdrawn with them, and we may at once 
imagine how immense would be the loss. It is intended 
by Providence that the generations of "our species should 
live for each other. That the capacities of men should 
unfold themselves gradually ; that as life is short, mind, 
if I may use the term, should lap upon mind, and the world 
be improved by the benefit of experience. That present 
labour should be lessened by the labour of the past, and that 
of intellect a fund should be collected, not to be scattered 
or lost, but to be preserved and enlarged by the efforts of 
succeeding minds. That the knowledge which has been 
acquired should be treasured, and form that support on 
which the lever of the mind should rest in its efforts to ac- 
complish more. There is, indeed, no necessity for sacrifi- 
cing one branch of education to another, if the time of 
study is properly regulated and applied. The capacity to 
acquire enlarges with application. The mind is untiring, 
and yields only to the lassitude of the body, and is then 
said to be taxed beyond its strength. But allowing all 
proper and suitable relaxation, yet a respectable profi- 
ciency in both modern and ancient learning can be accom- 



21 

plished within the period which, in this country, is allotted 
to the instruction of youth. 

But although a disposition of late years has heen evinced, 
to relax in laying what has been heretofore considered the 
foundation of knowledge, and in place of the old to seek 
new light in the paths of literature ; yet, should evil arise 
from the adoption of any new expedients, with us the evil 
can be but temporary. The very measures which are 
using to spread through our land the means of a good ele- 
mentary education will prepare the way for a more perfect 
diffusion of knowledge. Let the people become instructed. 
Let the ability be placed in their hands to -enlarge their in- 
formation, and we have no reason to fear but that all the 
treasures of literature will be successively sought. The 
human mind is so alive to inquiry, and so insatiable in its 
desires after knowledge, that the very diffusion of learning, 
though intended to be limited, will inevitably lead to that 
research which shall secure and continue the influence of 
ancient literature. Such was the case in the revival of 
letters in the middle ages ; and, indeed, wherever learning 
has prevailed, its ambition has equally been to draw upon 
the intelligence of the past, as to improve the present and 
strive to anticipate the future. If the spirit which now 
prevails is but cherished, it requires no gift of prophecy to 
foretel the most glorious results. The very confederated 
nature of our government ; its territory parcelled out into 
independent states ; the checks and balances of power 
which exist between the several parts, and the union of the 



22 

whole, together with our wide separation from foreign 
kingdoms ; may be the means of preserving peace within 
our borders for a long succession of years : and if left at 
peace, with our growing prosperity and intelligence, we 
may anticipate with confidence the destiny of our country. 

We are in the vigour of youth, the glory of the old world is 
fading away. Its free institutions, driven from their ancient 
seats, exist with diminished lustre at the northern extreme 
of Europe. We have from thence derived them, and here 
in the midst of a people whose energies are unrestrained, 
and whose information is daily enlarging, we have every 
reason to trust that they will be preserved and perpetuated. 
If we are but true to ourselves; if we avoid the luxuries as 
the contentions of Europe, which can equally sap our 
strength ; if we preserve our simplicity of manners, encour- 
age learning, and guard from innovation our inestimable 
constitution ; thought can hardly grasp the prosperity to 
which this empire may attain, or assign limits to the extent 
of its glory. 

Permit me, in the close of this address, to dwell for a few 
moments on those recollections which immediately relate 
to the occasion which has brought us together. We have 
assembled in this place* to commemorate the time when a 
more intimate connexion than at present existed between 
us and this institution. With some of us many years have 
since elapsed, and many cares may have estranged us from 

* The College Chapel. 



23 

the pursuits of our youth ; yet memory, reaching over this 
chasm of years, delights to bring fresh before us those events 
too dear in themselves, and too strongly impressed on our 
hearts to have passed into oblivion. There is no period 
recalled with more delight, and its occurrences dwelt upon 
with more enthusiasm, than the days of college life. The 
difficulties which may have then beset us, and which, 
to the inexperienced mind, appeared of formidable magni- 
tude, have been forgotten in the lapse of years, or have 
sunk into insignificance before the real anxieties of life ; 
but the mantle of green which overspreads this season of 
life, appears to us yet in all its primitive verdure. Indulge 
me, then, whilst I at this time carry you back with me to 
those days which never can be forgotten. 

To those of you who have but recently left these halls, 
whose companions may be yet around you, and whose in- 
structers still occupy these seats of learning, there is a joy 
unalloyed in this retrospect. But to those of us who are 
descending in the vale of years, and with whose early asso- 
ciations the grave has made sad havoc, these remembrances 
come chastened by the vicissitudes which have succeeded 
them. The race of learning still goes on ; fresh spirits 
are starting for the prize, and new guides with generous 
ardour direct their noble aspirations. It is due to the mem- 
ory of those who, with equal fidelity and skill, once stimu- 
lated to the same laudable exertions, that, while the grave 
has closed upon their labours, their virtues, their merits, and 



24 

especially their services here^ should be held in grateful re- 
membrance. 

Indulge me, then, while in unison with such feelings, I 
endeavour to give an outline of the life and character of one 
who was pre-eminent in his day for the elegance of his 
mind, his classic attainments, and professional eloquence. 

William Samuel Johnson was born at Stratford, in 
the then colony of Connecticut, on the 7th of October, 
1727.* His capacities developed themselves early, and 
gave promise in his tender years of the bright career which 
awaited him. At the age of thirteen, he entered Yale 
College, at New-Haven, and graduated at that institution 
in 1744. It was there he laid the foundation of that classic 
learning for which he was so eminent, and which gave a 
strength, a purity, and an elegance to all the productions 
of his mind. He was passionately fond of ancient litera- 
ture, and particularly of the works of the great masters of 
eloquence. On the writings of Cicero he always descant- 
ed with peculiar enthusiasm, and their powerful effect upon 
his mind was displayed in the style and manner of his own 
eloquence, for it partook of the richness and majesty of 
the Roman school. He was bred to the law in Connecti- 
cut, and by laborious application and research, prepared 
himself for the duties of that arduous profession. His 

His father Dr. Samuel Johnson was a distinguished clergyman of that 
place, and who in 1754 was appointed the first president of Columbia 
College. 



25 

acute and discriminating mind, amid the rubbish of learning 
secured those sound principles of equity and law, on which 
our jurisprudence has been based, and unfettered by the 
mere technicalities of legal science, he pursued his pro- 
fession with a steady and single view to the protection and 
vindication of the rights of his fellow-men. With him, law 
was a science denning the privileges and guarding the 
social relations of men, and whose exalted purposes should 
elevate, above every sordid motive, those who were to assist 
in its administration. Imbued with such principles, and 
enriched with such legal and classic knowledge, he soon 
took the lead among his professional brethren, and cast a 
lustre over a bar of which he was alike the instructer and 
the ornament. He was repeatedly the representative of 
the county in which he lived, in the assembly of the colony, 
and he there assiduously prepared himself for that more 
extended public usefulness, to which he was afterwards 
called. 

In 1765, he was sent a delegate on the part of Connecti- 
cut, to a Congress of the colonies, which met during that 
year, in the City of New-York. It was a memorable period. 
The war between Great Britain and France had termi- 
nated in 1763, and in the succeeding year the Parliament of 
Great Britain, under pretext of the debt which that war 
had increased, sought to raise a revenue by imposing taxes 
on the colonies without their assent or the instrumentality 
of their own assemblies. These arbitrary proceedings gave 
rise to a decided opposition on the part of the colonies, 



26 

which never ceased until a separation was effected between 
the two countries. 

This Congress was distinguished by the talent and patrio- 
tism of its members, and by the prudence and firmness of 
its measures. It was in effect the germ of the revolution. 
Dr. Johnson, Robert R. Livingston, of New-York, and 
William Murdoch, of Maryland, were appointed a commit- 
tee to draft an address to the King relative to the course 
which had been pursued by parliament- towards the colo- 
nies, and the address was principally written by him. It 
feelingly portrayed the situation of the colonies, their 
rights as an integral part of the British Empire, the servi- 
ces and trials of their emigrant ancestors, and the immuni- 
ties guaranteed to them by the British Constitution. It 
contended that the colonial governments, with full powers 
of legislation, had been framed with the assent of the 
Crown and people of England, and that the right was 
thereby secured to their inhabitants of freely granting to 
the royal government, by themselves or their representa- 
tives, such aids for its support as the public necessities 
might require, and the right also of trial by their peers. 
"That by the one they were secured from unreasonable 
impositions, and by the other, from arbitrary decisions of 
the executive power." 

It is a production respectful but firm, powerful in its 
argument, and breathing a fervour worthy of the subject 
and the crisis. The deliberations and resolves of that body 
of patriots, were of the same nature and character with 



27 

those which a few years afterwards, and at a subsequent 
congress of the colonies, gave birth to the revolution. 

It is with feelings of reverence and affection, that we 
look back to those days of early patriotism in our land, 
and contemplate the collected energies of those minds 
whose uncompromising principles originated that cause 
which has been fruitful of so much blessing. The opposi- 
tion which then commenced, being based upon principle, 
was conducted with the greatest coolness and discretion. 
The minds who directed it, appear almost to have intuitively 
known the result to which it must lead, and were there- 
fore neither to be seduced from their purpose, nor precipi- 
tated into measures which might hazard the great end they 
had in view — the emancipation of their country. 

In 1766, Dr. Johnson was elected a member of Council 
of the Colony of Connecticut, and the same year he re- 
ceived the degree of Doctor of Laws from the university of 
Oxford. He was also, in that year, appointed an agent to 
manage and transact with the British Government all affairs 
in which the colonies might be interested, and especially in 
a cause between the governor and company, (Connecticut 
being a corporation,) and the Mohegan Indians. Lieuten- 
ant Governor Mason, on behalf of the colony, had received 
from this tribe a transfer of their lands, but had taken the 
conveyance to himself, and which was not noticed until after 
his death, when the property was claimed by his heirs for 
services he had rendered the Indians, and also under the 
pretence of protecting their rights. This cause, after a 



28 

decision by commissioners in this country, had been re- 
moved, by appeal, to England, and was then pending before 
the king and lords in council. Although it involved the 
title of Connecticut to lands of much value, yet it was of 
more consequence to the colony, as its chartered rights 
might have been put at hazard by an unfavourable decision. 

Dr. Johnson, before his departure on this important mis- 
sion, that he might be correctly informed of the state of 
these Indians, went to Mohegan, and had a council of the 
tribe convened. He found them entirely satisfied with 
their situation, and that they had no complaint against the 
government of the colony. After his arrival in England, it 
was with difficulty, and after much delay, that he brought 
this cause to a hearing, when he defended with ability and 
zeal, before the elevated tribunal to which this appeal had 
been made, the rights of Connecticut to the disputed terri- 
tory. The delay attending this important litigation, detain- 
ed him abroad until 1771. 

In October 1772, he was appointed a Judge of the Supe- 
rior Court of the colony, and in 1774, he was chosen a 
delegate to attend the celebrated Congress which convened 
at Philadelphia, and whose labours eventuated in the declara- 
tion of our independence. As at the time of this appoint- 
ment he had been chosen an arbitrator relative to the Van 
Rensselaer estate, and which required his immediate and 
whole attention, his services, at this Congress, were excused, 
and another delegate was sent in his place. 

After the colony had become an independent state, he 



29 

was in 1780 re-elected a member of its council. In 1782, 
he was employed in the cause between the States of Con- 
necticut and Pennsylvania, respecting the claim of the for- 
mer, under her charter, to lands which now form part of 
the state of Ohio. This important cause was tried at 
Trenton, before commissioners appointed by Congress, and 
in which the greatest legal talents in the country were 
engaged. The efforts of Dr. Johnson are spoken of as 
being unrivalled amid the powerful reasoning and eloquence 
which that extraordinary trial called into action. 

In 1784, under the old confederation of the States, he 
was elected to Congress, and which, in December of that 
year, removed to the City of New-York. He continued in 
Congress until Ma} T , 1787, when he was chosen a delegate 
to the Convention which formed the Constitution of the 
United States, and he zealously co-operated in reconciling 
the conflicting interests of the several States, and in affect- 
ing its adoption. 

It was in these assemblies of the nation, that the talents 
of Dr. Johnson appeared to the greatest advantage. He 
was peculiarly fitted to have influence in a deliberative body 
by the strength of his mind — his great erudition — his 
knowledge of the political concerns of our country, and the 
impressive manner in which his sentiments were always 
delivered. There was no lightness or frivolity in his 
address. It was clear, dignified, and commanding. His 
sentiments were clothed in the most chaste and appropriate 
language. Possessed of an exuberant imagination, en- 



30 

riched by the most classic imagery, yet it was always held 
in subjection to his judgment, and its powers were never 
displayed, unless to irradiate some sound position, which his 
well balanced mind had already taken. His eloquence 
was of the most finished and elevated character. The rank 
he thus deservedly acquired in the estimation of the citizens 
of his native state, never was taken from him. He was 
their faithful representative in the National Legislature, and 
to the last retained their confidence and affection. 

In 1787, he was elected President of Columbia College, 
and, while holding that office, in January, 1788, he and 
Oliver Ellsworth were chosen by the Legislature of Con- 
necticut senators to the first Congress, under the new 
constitution. Those eminent men were the committee 
appointed to frame a judiciary system for the United States, 
and the bill which they reported was adopted with little 
alteration. The merits of this system have been tested by 
the experience of forty years ; and though the exigencies 
of our country have required that it should be occasionally 
enlarged, yet the system remains the same, and has been 
found well adapted to the preservation and enforcement of 
the rights of this great empire, and of all its relative parts 
and their respective inhabitants. 

Dr. Johnson held the office of President of the College, 
and Senator in Congress, until Congress removed to Phila- 
delphia, when he resigned his seat in the Senate, and devot- 
ed himself entirely to the duties of the Presidency. 

It was in the latter years of his presidency, that I first 



31 

knew him — and I remember the impression of veneration 
and respect which his mild and dignified deportment then 
made upon my youthful mind. Ripe in years and in 
honours, he brought to this institution a mind replete with 
learning, and a character unsullied with a stain. In him, 
those qualities which are deemed the most estimable among 
men were happily blended. His acquisition of knowledge 
was immense. No subject could be started in the whole 
range of literature with which he was not acquainted. 
With the Greek and Roman languages he was familiar. 
Yet with him there was no affectation of learning, his knowl- 
edge was imparted without ostentation, and became more 
acceptable from the courteous and affable manner in 
which it was communicated. He was withal the finished 
gentleman, and adapted his manners to every rank and age. 
He presided in this institution until the year 1800, when 
his health becoming much impaired, he resigned his presi- 
dency and removed to his native town of Stratford, where 
he afterwards lived in retirement. His health became in a 
great measure restored by the tranquillity of his life ; and 
his latter years were spent in reading and amusing himself 
with agricultural pursuits. The love of learning, with him, 
was a passion, and continued after he had ceased to apply its 
fruits to the active concerns of life. He was from his youth 
to the termination of his life an indefatigable student. 
Even in his old age he always had at hand, near his bed, 
the means of striking a light ; and his wakeful hours were 
employed in reading. He retained his mental powers, with 



32 

but little abatement, to the end of a protracted life, and was 
to the last remarkable for the equanimity of his temper, and 
the courteousness of his manners. Unaffectedly pious, at 
peace with the world and with himself, he died on the 14th 
of November, 1819, at the advanced age of ninety-two. 

This is but a passing tribute to the worth of this patriarch 
of learning and such as I thought it became me to pay to one 
so deservedly venerated. Such men illumine by their 
talents the society in which they live, and the lustre of their 
characters shall abide and the effects of their virtues be felt 
when themselves have forever passed away. 

The time allotted to this exercise will not permit me to 
pursue those reminiscences, by enlarging on the merit of 
other distinguished men, to whom we have here looked for 
instruction, with filial reverence, and whose memory 
" the grave has consecrated." Abler minds, I trust, will 
present to you testimonials of their worth. 

But are there not other recollections which upon this 
day will crowd upon our hearts, especially upon the hearts 
of those of us with whom the spring time of life is over. 
Where are the associates of our early years, those with 
whom we took sweet counsel when the heart was warm 
and the affections single. How have they fared in a world 
abounding with snares and difficulties ! Have they held 
their course unwavering, distinguished for probity, talent, 
and usefulness *? What a sensation of pride, unmixed with 
selfishness, do we experience in contemplating their pros- 
perity and worth ! Towards them affection remains in all 



33 

its freshness. However ambition or even envy may affect 
our minds towards other competitors, with whom we have 
become associated amid the jostlings of the world, yet 
there is joy, unmingled with any bitter ingredient, at the 
success of those companions of our youth. Even for those 
who may have faltered by the way, or who have become 
lost to themselves and to us, how is the heart softened to 
their frailties, what excuses will it not frame for their er- 
rors ; and when the conviction of their unworthiness has 
become overwhelming, there is a sadness in the conclusion 
which almost disarms our justice ! 

In truth, these feelings of generous confidence, which 
belong to our best years, linger with us through life, and 
are the last that are relinquished. However harrassed by 
the world, or rendered callous by its persecutions, or self- 
ish by its cold distrust, there is yet a corner of the heart 
sacred to those companions of our early years. How 
many a time and oft, when beset by the cares of the world, 
its troubles and perplexities have we not cast our eyes 
back to those peaceful walls, in which the best and purest 
portion of our lives has been spent. Care had not then 
distracted the mind, nor withdrawn it from those studious 
contemplations, which gave delight and vigour to its facul- 
ties. Here pleasure had not beguiled the senses, and be- 
trayed them by its seductions into thoughtlessness and 
folly. The world was yet in the distance, untried, and 
viewed only through the medium of those bright hopes, 
which present nothing, in prospect, but a land of promise. 



34 

The friendship of those, whose minds have been thus at- 
tempered, cannot be otherwise than enduring. 

However exhilarated, at the moment of parting, by gay 
anticipations of the future, yet the heart will hesitate to 
launch forever from those quiet retreats, where its princi- 
ples in virtue were established or confirmed. Its attach- 
ments formed under such auspices, and amid such associa- 
tions, pure, ardent, and disinterested, leave an impression 
never to be effaced. 

It is many years since I thus parted with my beloved 
classmates. It appears but as yesterday, when we gathered 
for the last time, under these aged sycamores and bade each 
other farewell. How animating was that day, what 
present enjoyment, what sanguine calculations of the 
future ! Sad realities awaited many of them. Thirty-two 
years have since passed, and after much vicissitude, the 
struggle of life with most of them is over. I am the second 
of the few survivors of that class who you have honoured 
by calling to speak before you, and I could not forego the 
opportunity of bearing testimony to those feelings which 
such an occasion must naturally awaken. Indeed, my 
friends, it is proper, when we thus assemble in commemo- 
ration of the ties which unite us to this Institution, that we 
should call up and indulge those recollections. If they 
may be termed weaknesses, yet they are of kindred with 
our virtues. They call back our affections, if perchance 
they have wandered, and while they bind those of us who 



1 



35 



remain still closer together, they also unite us, I trust, 
while we live, indissolubly with our beloved Alma Mater. 

Let our attachment to those days of virtuous study, and 
to the fostering care of an Institution which prepared 
us for lives of usefulness, be evidenced by a solicitude for 
her prosperity, and a reverence for her fame. We owe 
much to her care, and she is entitled to a grateful return. 
While others, with laudable zeal, are building up establish- 
ments in our land for the promotion of science, let our 
affections be constant here, and let this nursery of our 
youth receive the support and vindication of our age. She 
deserves it, for her steady adherance to classic literature ; for 
the integrity with which she has pursued her course, amid 
the vacillations of the day ; for the bright sons she has 
sent forth to serve as lamps in the paths of literature, as 
statesmen in the public councils : alike the ornaments of 
her character as they have proved to be the safeguard and 
reliance of their country. 



